carry on

Dad on his submarine. He went under the arctic ice twice.

i got the first call when i was 29 years old. i remember it clearly. i had just returned to my apartment from basking in the sun poolside in atlanta. dad had a stroke. a massive stroke. he's in icu at the veterans administration hospital in my hometown.  my sister kim, living close to my parents, and mom spent the next few weeks with dad. i flew up shortly thereafter and spent a month with mom while dad was still in the hospital. he was paralyzed on the left side of his body. each day we went to his therapies... physical and occupational. he still had his speech. and only some use of his left hand. he was walking, slowly, ever so slowly, with a walker and leg brace.

as dad was learning to walk again, mom was learning to do a few things around the house and elsewhere that were dad's chores. dad was a mechanic following his retirement in the navy. he always took our cars to the gas station and filled the tanks. always. kim had showed mom how to pump gas on one of her recent visits home. mom drove the car back and forth and back and forth to visit dad until she HAD to fill the tank. i was there this time. after one long, exhausting afternoon visiting dad at the hospital, we pulled into the gas station to fill the tank. there was one car at pump #17. that tells you how many pumps there were at the station. plenty. mom pulled to the side. i asked her what she was doing. she said that kim had showed her how to pump gas on pump #17 so she had to wait until that one was free. i think i pulled out a chunk of my own hair. they are all the same i exclaimed. nope, i need to go to pump #17, we'll just wait, she said. so we waited.

dad was eventually sent home. his new role was patient. mom's was nurse. slowly any progress he had made in the hospital deteriorated. years passed. kim got married. i got married. kim moved. still nearby. i moved. 5 or 6 times. some of them cross-country. pets died. pets were adopted.  there were phone calls, oh-so-many phone calls, and visits to see dad. we brought pictures of the events in our lives.

18 years later i got another phone call. kim squeaked out the words, dad died. it was may 16, 2013. he was admitted to a local nursing home in march following a hospital stay for pneumonia. complications arose from there. my last visit home was in october. my next visit home was going to be may 29th.

Dad with Kim on the left and me on the right, Christmas, circa 1967

plans were made. flights were scheduled. photos were gathered. memories were remembered. either kim or mom told me of the coincidence. i don't remember who. dad was in room 226 at the nursing home. the funeral home was at 226 cumberland street. weird, huh? she said. before i went home for the funeral, i walked into the bank to deposit some cash. i grabbed a lump of cash for my wallet. $76. that's an odd amount, i thought. just make it $75. nope keep it at $76. i handed the leftover money to the teller for the deposit. she penned $226 on my deposit slip. i smiled. coincidence? i choose to think not.

if there was ever a time for time to be frozen, this was it. i couldn't fathom participating in a viewing, a service, and then a processional to the cemetery. steve and i arrived home the day before the viewing. i had packed some photos and pretty printed labels... husband, father, son, navy, in loving memory, friend. we made bulletin boards of memories. we put on our outfits. we went to the first viewing. i swore i wasn't going to look. i looked. he looked better than i thought he would. he was dressed in a flannel shirt with a u.s. flag pin on his lapel. people came. people wept. people consoled us. i hadn't seen some of these folks in 30 years. we laughed at the good times we had growing up. playing badminton in the backyard. playing wiffle ball. how the clothesline post was 2nd base. they didn't want to know where i lived now or what i did for work.... they wanted to know if i still ate macaroni and cheese every day. we laughed a lot. there was a woman who came who told me that her dad and my dad worked at the local army/navy recruiting office together. she said her father gave my father some $$ when they were overseas in vietnam and had asked my father to use it to buy a tobaggan for his children for christmas. he did.

we dressed again the next morning for the service. there was another short viewing and then time to sit down and listen. beautiful words were spoken. words to celebrate a life. people left. it was just family at the casket. kim and her husband spoke of the navy term "carry on". it means to resume. now we must resume. we said goodbye and i pulled the blanket up to his chin. the casket was closed, draped with a flag, and rolled out to the hearse. we followed. then a slow procession to the cemetery.

the cemetery was beautiful. beautifully decorated for the upcoming memorial day weekend. 7,000 small flags were staked at the entrance... one for each life lost in combat since 9/11. (that image and its meaning itself is staggering.) we made our way to a small shelter. words were spoken. taps was played. a 21-gun salute was sounded. the flag was precisely folded. more words. empty shells were passed along. the folded flag was presented. a painfully slow final salute was given.

we've settled into our routine lives again.  father's day is this sunday. it'll be different for us this year. as will christmas, which is also dad's birthday. there won't be phone calls or visits to dad. instead we'll look back on our memories of dad and then carry on.

renegade craft fair this weekend in austin tx!

gosh it's been so long since i've written a blog post, i almost forgot how. life's been busy. i've been spending my waking hours panicking prepping for Renegade Craft Fair this weekend, May 18-19, in Austin, TX. oh look, there's even gonna be booze.

it's my first time there and i'm thrilled that i was accepted to participate. thanks Renegade!

here are some snap shots from what's in production here...

marble lined curry envelopes with calligraphy script flat notes. 

my lotus pattern in corals with a cobalt HOLLA. (hubby called it hola last night... he's not in the loop on "holla". apparently he didn't watch enough of heather on RHONY)

 tons of new greeting cards. anyone need a hug?

and a snapshot of my dining room table right now, landing zone for all the stock.

so if you're anywhere near Austin this weekend, come see us. we'd love to meet you!

argo

i know i'm totally late to the game, but at least i saw one of the movies that was up for best picture at the oscars last night. (and since when are there NINE movies nominated for best picture.... seriously? didn't there used to be like 5 or 6....).

hubby and i watched argo saturday night. i was happy to see this scene not only because it's a phenomenal movie but especially since it meant the end of a boring awards show. i enjoyed their acceptance speeches. best line of the night was from the 3rd producer who said (sandwiched between clooney and affleck), "i know what you're thinking, the 3 sexiest producers you've ever seen." good one.

photo from here

but i still haven't recovered from the movie. it's tense. tense like if i wasn't sprawled out under a fleece blanket, ice pack, cellphone, and remote control, i would get up, leave the room, take a few deep breaths, and regroup. for me, it ranks right up there with the abyss, where for most of that movie i felt like i was underwater gasping for my last breath. i'm sure you've seen it and you know what i'm talking about. if you don't, rush right over to your remote control and dial it up on 'on demand'.

my new favorite salad

i used to be a spinach salad gal. my favorite was spinach with mozzarella, bosc pear, coconut flakes and pecans with a vanilla flavored dressing made from protein powder. sounds yummy, huh? can't get it in a restaurant.... you have to make your own. and i did, sometimes every day for weeks.

photo by Marcus Nilsson, from O online

NOW, i make this salad almost every week and munch on it for lunch. it's so tasty. i found it in one of O's recent issues and figured i'd give it a go since i had most ingredients here at the house.

here's my version. it's truly yummy. i add a little pb2 in my dressing. just felt like it was calling for a smidge of peanut taste. and remember, the fresher your kale, the tastier the salad. and see those golden rounds on the plate? that's another recent favorite that goes smashingly well with the salad.... goat cheese rounds. (goat cheese battered in flour, egg, and panko and then sauteed). my in-laws are coming to visit in a few weeks. hope they like kale, cause i'll be serving this.

pixels wishes...

you all a happy valentine's day. and look... her rabies tag even looks like a heart! how apropos.  i, on the other hand, am going back to bed with my friend nyquil. i shouldn't have bragged that i made it through most of winter without getting sick.

big ol' sale at the shop

i know, who wants to think about christmas when it's only february. but... you'll thank me come dec 21st. there's a big ol' sale happening on holiday goods at pixelimpress. all holiday items are on sale. 30% off tags. 75% off discontinued tags. and 50% off card sets. go now, get 'em while they last.

let's get caught up, shall we

well, someone finally noticed that i hadn't updated the blog in a month. thanks, sis. and since i hadn't posted in awhile, i thought i'd give the blog a fresh look with a new header, a collage of my favorite instagram photos. (click on the link on the sidebar to follow me on instagram where i post a photo or two almost daily!)

so... let's get caught up in what's happening around here. our little finnigan is growing like a weed. he keeps us quite busy. finnigan runs at either a 10 or a 0... there's no inbetween. he's either in his crate snoring or running around like a maniac. we have yet to truly cuddle with him. he thinks he can fit everything in his path in his mouth. and he tries. and then you're chasing him around the house like a fool. i know he's laughing to himself when that happens. he throws hissy fits when he doesn't get his way. and he knows EXACTLY when his next meal is and he will let you know as loudly as he can that you are 30 seconds late with his meal. we love him anyway.

here he is in puppy class with his daddy.

we make finnigan suffer hold a "down" pose before he can eat.

his dangling participle.

and his sweet face.
and let's not forget our oldest, pixel. she turned 5 recently. as a friend commented.... "she doesn't look a day over 4!"

she spends her days in the life of luxury.

and in other homefront news, thanks to my bootcamp trainer, meridith, i've rediscovered quinoa. i'm addicted to quinoa and kale cakes . i make a variation of this recipe. they are so good! i usually serve them with guacamole on top.

and who knew carnations lasted so long?? these have been thriving on my kitchen island for the last 2 weeks. like the vase? it's an antique dental spittoon i bought over the holidays. i love the shape and color and try to forget that people at one time spit in it.

here in flat, farm country we see a lot of hot air balloons. i snapped a photo of these guys taking off at the end of our street one weekend.

and in shop news, i've been doing a lot of custom work. here's a sampling.

these minty stripes went out to a favorite customer. i LOVE her logo/signature!

 malachite-inspired business cards for another favorite client in palm beach.

 after i designed those, i found this image online. yep, rolex and i think alike.

more green.

 and some purple.

and a custom baby shower invite for a friend.

 well, that about sums up my january. i'll be back real soon with another post!

i know where i'll be sunday night

...glued to the tv watching season 3 of my newest obsession, downton abbey.

hubby and i started watching season 1 right before christmas. right after christmas i rushed to target (i had to drive myself... sadly, we have no staff to bring around the motor and chaffeur us.) to buy season 2 on dvd (boo netflix for not having season 2 yet). i'm totally obsessed.... like obsessed so much that i'm on the verge of requesting that friends and family refer to me as "m'lady". 

traditional home online has a feature on downton abbey where you can learn a little more about the real-life castle where they film most of the show. (and from where i borrowed these photos.) pop over there to check out some great photos of the castle interiors and cast of the show.

and then do yourself a favor, and jump on the bandwagon and watch it. if anything to see my favorite character, the dowager countess, played expertly by maggie smith.

merry merry! our christmas card!

our christmas card is always one of my favorite things to design each year. it takes months of planning and scheming to think about what silly getup/pose i can make pixel do. this year was challenging because we had to incorporate our newest member of the family, finnigan. and when we took this photo, finnigan had yet to learn basic manners. getting him to sit still for a split second was a challenge (and actually it STILL is!... 2 months later).

after lots of photos and some hysterical outtakes, we chose this as the best photo. the caption followed. (click to enlarge.)

last year's card. (i LOVE pixel's expression!) 

2010's card.

and 2009 (which was sent with a year's update from pixel). still one of my absolute favorite photos of pixel.

and with these, i am signing off until 2013. merry christmas! and thanks for following up with pixelimpress!

randomness around here via my instagram photos

i've had one day off in the last 4 weeks, and, in the spirit of the season, this is what i did. i threw some ornaments in a bowl...

and spray painted my real antler for another holiday display in the house. it turned out so good i'm eyeballing other things to spray metallic gold.

and in shop news....

i love creating holiday photo cards. this bride had the perfect photo for my confetti newlywed card.

lots of personalized stationery going out the door ...

these were some gorgeous calling cards i printed for a customer. we added her pink logo. i love it on the mint stripes.

these are a favorite this year in the shop. i'm about to print another batch.

and now for the four-legged news...not everybody works as hard as i do during the day...

steve's been working hard training the little guy, finnigan. this day he got a double sit at the backdoor before playtime in the yard... their favorite passtime.

i caught finni in this action shot the other day.... nice faceplant, dude.

AND....steve and i have been watching breaking bad on netflix. i'm obsessed. so much so, that i'm gonna pepper my language with b*tch and yo. don't take it personally.